We often get the question: is pain neuroscience education the same as cognitive behavioral therapy? The literal answer is no. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a psychosocial intervention that is based on a combination of basic principles from behavioral and cognitive psychology. It was originally designed to treat depression, but is now used for various mental disorders. To deliver CBT, one should receive specific training in the technique. With that in mind, does pain neuroscience education (PNE) contain components that are based on CBT principles? Our consensus is, yes.
In discussion with Jo Nijs, he agreed that PNE is probably mostly about the “C” of CBT. PNE is trying to change an individual’s perceptions about their injury/illness and beliefs about pain, aka the cognitive component. This is where understanding the neurophysiology of pain along with having the ability to change perceptions about various tissue variances that an individual in pain has is important. How one goes about this is through the various metaphors and stories to assist with the patient’s understanding. I like to make a point that knowing about pain science is not the same as treating a patient utilizing pain science. For me it is no different from knowing anatomy and biomechanics is not the same thing as treating a patient utilizing these principles. Sure, you need to have a sound knowledge of anatomy and biomechanics, but you need a lot more to be able to effectively treat a patient. I get concerned some clinicians may be content with knowing pain science, yet they have not been able to effectively use it within the treatment of individuals with pain. We recently finished an fMRI study that showed when we use PNE; we affect specific areas of the brain associated with the pain neuromatrix. These changes are different from when we used a control (non-PNE) educational process. The patient cognitively starts to think differently after they receive PNE.
Put more simply: you cannot explain someone’s pain away.
Even if one is effective in delivering PNE the “C” portion of CBT, it is limited in its effectiveness. Our past research has shown that unless the PNE is followed up with the active behavior change, the “B” of CBT, it has limited effectiveness. Put more simply: you cannot explain someone’s pain away. For us in therapy we have been in the behavior change business since the start of our profession. The primary behaviors we work on are exercise, movement, relaxation, motor control, goal setting, graded exposure, etc. We can also do some behavior therapy in the areas of sleep hygiene, diet, meditation, etc. This should be in every good clinician’s wheelhouse to change behavior in our patients. While behavior change is hard, this is what we are trained to help with.
So why do you need to deliver PNE first then work on the behavior change? We know from our and other fMRI studies that PNE changes the “filter”, how the brain “scrutinizes” as Louis Gifford mentioned in his Mature Organism Model. A patient then needs to run the behavior through the new “filter”/cognitions in order to generate the output that becomes new inputs. It is the running of the behavior through the new filter repetitively over time that allows for changes eventually in pain and function. A new filter is worthless unless you run things through it to filter. Thus, PNE without the active behavior change activities is not very effective. The neat part about the filter of the brain is that exercise actually makes the filter get better over time as it releases BDNF, serotonin and other good chemicals to allow the filter to function better. Moreover, as we move the filter learns about the body better (sharpens the homunculus) with increased body awareness and thus learns through expectancy violation, that it can function without the production of pain in all situations.
Therefore, while PNE is not CBT, it does use evidence-based principles of CBT by changing a person’s cognitions and then eventually using behavior change principles to make long-term changes to help an individual return to a level that they can function better again. What say you???
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Via Kory Zimney, DPT
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